Remembering CyanogenMod

In many ways, CyanogenMod is why I exist today.

Hyperbolic as that may seem, and perhaps a little too personal for a tech blog, it’s the truth. Seven years ago this Christmas a workplace accident rendered my right hand mostly useless. I couldn’t type, painkillers kept me in bed most of the day, and I had two different doctors telling me surgery was unlikely to restore enough of my hand that I’d be able to do just about all of the things I enjoyed doing. I was in a seriously dark place, and when I wasn’t trying to figure out how let my family cheer me up I was lurking in public CyanogenMod IRC channel just to keep my mind busy.

I was able to watch as the CyanogenMod team grew from a small public chat with a handful of clever ideas into a global community.

The time I spent watching as all of these remarkable people used every minute of their free time worked together to build ways for their phones to do new and amazing things not only encouraged me to push myself to find ways to contribute, it gave me a unique perspective. I was able to watch as the CyanogenMod team grew from a small public chat with a handful of clever ideas into a global community.

Unfortunately that means I was also there to watch as the software company that grew from this community quickly burned to the ground and pissed off a fair percentage of that loyal community. What excites me now with the recently announced Lineage OS climbing out from the CyanogenMod ashes has a lot to do with what excited me about CM from the beginning, and that’s what happens when clever people openly talk about what is possible with their spare time.

Back before anyone knew better

My adventures with CyanogenMod didn’t start until the Nexus One, but only because I really needed my HTC G1 to be as stable as possible. I bought a G1 the day it was released because it had a Linux Terminal, and that meant I could remotely access my work servers and troubleshoot customer needs without carrying my laptop around everywhere. I worked for a small web hosting company and it was important that I always be ready to answer a support call when I wasn’t in the office. I was aware of the existence of CyanogenMod as a potential alternative, but didn’t really bother with it.

Most people didn’t hear about CyanogenMod until Google tried to shut the project down. A Cease And Desist letter from Google left the team thinking the project was completely dead, because Google didn’t want the proprietary parts of the OS included in these community builds. You could build Android and do whatever you wanted to it, but Google’s apps needed to be separate. The way around this quickly became installing the core OS built by CyanogenMod and then finding GApps elsewhere and installing that on top, but a surefire way to bring the Internet’s attention to something is to tell them they can’t have it. With a spotlight on the project, it grew quickly.

If you bought something and weren’t able to alter it to work the way you wanted it to, you didn’t own it.

The Nexus One was different for me. It was a gift after my accident, so I didn’t need it for work. This was mine to play with, so I started looking for the best resources to learn how to tinker. Most resources at the time pointed me to the XDA forums, but I found myself drawn to the real-time communication of the CyanogenMod IRC. In these relatively early days, the public channel existed as general communication and support. People would drop in, ask a question, and there was usually enough people around to lend a hand with whatever problem they were having. At this point, there was never more than 150 people active and the general conversation was geared toward sharing ideal and working through issues found when implementing new ideas.

Watching the channel over a period of months was great for me. The Nexus One was much easier for people to tinker with, which added to the rapidly growing popularity of the project. I was able to watch other people ask the questions I had, since typing with one hand took me forever, and before long I was able to offer help to those that had come in with common questions. This quickly became a social outlet for me. I made friends in the channel, and we all knew roughly when each other would be online. For someone less skilled like me, this meant I could make sure I was around when Cyanogen and Koush and others were around so I could learn from them as they worked out new ways to implement their ideas.

The group thought was if you bought something and weren’t able to alter it to work the way you wanted, you didn’t own it.

At this point, the purpose of CyanogenMod was entirely personal. The group thought was if you bought something and weren’t able to alter it to work the way you wanted it to work, you didn’t own it. For some people this meant ways to enable tethering in a time when the OS itself didn’t offer the feature. For others, this meant tweaking the underlying hardware to maximize battery life. All of these ideas came together, and the stuff that worked got added into the next build. That next build would be announced on XDA, and shortly after small burst of new users would come into the IRC to ask for help or talk about a new way to implement a feature. Rinse, build, repeat.

Expansion and Monetization

As much fun as the Nexus One group was, things didn’t really take off for Android as a whole until Motorola and Verizon released the original Droid. Verizon’s marketing budget drew in all kind of users looking for the official answer to not having an iPhone, and with that came tons of new people eager to play with all of the cool things the Nexus One kids were playing with. This raised several interesting problems at the time. For one, almost no one in the CyanogenMod team had Verizon Wireless and even fewer people had a desire to switch carriers. Perhaps more important, several other Android phones had been released both to GSM carrier in the US and internationally. Everyone wanted a way to flash CyanogenMod, but each of these phones had separate needs and required separate maintainers.

This was a weird time for Android, where carriers were doing things like disabling NFC chips in phones for seemingly no reason.

The single IRC channel quickly fragmented into many different channels to more easily discuss the individual needs of each device. Working with Verizon phones was a relatively low priority for most, both because Verizon was way more likely to be litigious and because CDMA networks are complicated and terrible things compared to the relative simplicity of GSM.

The desire to support these phones grew quickly, though, mostly out of necessity. HTC had released the Evo on Sprint with a customized version of Android, Motorola’s Droid wasn’t quite the same as “stock Android”, and Samsung was releasing phones on AT&T and T-Mobile with their customizations as well. These modifications all had the same things in common: they had a couple of ideas that were worth implementing on CyanogenMod, and software updates to add features Google was releasing weren’t coming to these phones anytime soon.

Supporting all of these phones required more than just the free time of a couple talented software developers and clever tinkerers. Each new build took time and energy on someone’s computer, and a desire for a centralized repository for all of the ideas being tested on all of the phones was a must. The CyanogenMod donations link was reasonably active, especially when team members reminded everyone the link existed, but in a time before Kickstarter or Patreon or really even significant activity on Twitter this meant working together to build a centralized place to build for all of these devices. It was time for the little blue bugdroid on a skateboard to become stickers and buttons and even umbrellas to help pay for the cost of maintaining the steadily increasing cost of supporting everything at the pace Android was expanding.

It was time for the little blue bugdroid on a skateboard to become stickers and buttons to help pay for the cost of maintaining the growing demand for builds, and builders.

The CyanogenMod team eventually grew to try reselling virtualized servers for other projects among other ideas, and eventually the project itself started making money. This meant more phones could be bought for more maintainers when new hardware was released, and eventually the team could offer nightly builds for the more popular phones. Every night there was a new build available with a new tweak. Sometimes these were small changes, sometimes major features were tested and added. Users got in the habit of flashing every single day to try the new things and offer feedback, and the teams contributors with their own ideas continued to grow alongside the users.

This growth period wasn’t enough for anyone to draw a salary or anything. CyanogenMod thrived as a project that offered a better way to use your phone, with features manufacturers either hadn’t thought of or didn’t want to add. This was a weird time for Android, where carriers were doing things like disabling NFC chips in phones for seemingly no reason and manufacturers were starting to figure out ways to build exclusive services that would encourage users to stay loyal and only buy that brand. As most of those ideas failed and crumbled, CyanogenMod continued to thrive and grow.

Growing up is hard

Weirdly, CyanogenMod and Google decided at right around the same time that Android needed to stop being the thing geeks loved and start being something everyone could use. For Google, that meant standardizing features and becoming more aggressive with the manufacturer requirements for adding Google Apps to a phone. For CyanogenMod, that meant every single thing a person wanted couldn’t be yet another setting in a never ending list of options to enable or disable. Google and Android needed to be recognized brands, and the Google services needed to be front and center for every user to appreciate. CyanogenMod needed to be something that was just as stable as the software that came on your phone, and in most ways just as easy to use.

It took both sides a really long time to figure out what those changes meant, and not everyone agreed with how to proceed. Now that Apple’s iPhone was available on all of the same carriers you could get an Android phone, it became clear the ability to push a single update and have every iPhone become better was a feature people wanted. Google countered with a dramatic reimagining of Google Services. This was no longer a bundle of apps, it was a unified mechanism for tools that developers could add to their apps and know it worked the same on every phone. It also meant Google could better enforce security decisions if an app misbehaved or was behaving maliciously. Google’s answer to Apple’s universal identity is a unified core that can be modified and improved without the user ever needing to do anything.

This was no longer a couple of internet strangers in their free time, it was a group of close friends passionate about building something great.

CyanogenMod had a slightly easier decision to make and implement by comparison, but the people making those decisions were not organized in a corporate fashion. This was, by and large, a collective of voices that talked out each decision before making it. Streamlining CyanogenMod brought up some questions that weren’t easy to answer, like how many people actually needed root access after an update was installed and whether there really needed to be five toggle switches for how your notification light behaved. These questions started to guide the OS itself in a new direction, one that was less about adding a new feature because you could and more about creating a genuinely useful alternative to the less capable versions of Android being released by Samsung and HTC and others.

At the same time, hardware manufacturers were doing some maturing of their own. Competing with Apple in a world where Google was able to enforce their will on the way software worked meant competing almost exclusively in performance. Bigger, higher resolution displays and impressively capable audio or photography tools became the biggest talking points. Suddenly the conversation was all about specific ways you could use your phone that could only happen on this phone, and less about the most megapixels or whether the battery was replaceable. Meanwhile, Google’s Nexus program began a price war with devices like the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5. Did it really matter if your phone had all of the best specs if you could get it for half the price of the things that were considered the best? It’s a question still being answered today, with new reasons to have the conversation every couple of months.

Everything was maturing at a crazy rate, and the people spending every minute of their free time on this passion project now had hundreds of thousands of loyal users eager to see what happened next. While small compared to the overall scale of Android, the CyanogenMod community had become a massive global effort. A standalone website with detailed instructions for new users with hundreds of different phones existed, and a unified CyanogenMod release cycle ensured the team was building once and everyone had nearly identical experiences. This was no longer a couple of internet strangers in their free time, it was a group of close friends passionate about building something great.

Going corporate

The next step for CyanogenMod couldn’t have been more clear. This version of Android was now good enough to be the kind of thing people who aren’t nerds could use and enjoy. CyanogenMod could have legitimately been something you handed a family member and didn’t worry about things like boot looping or apps constantly crashing. More people started asking what it would take for CyanogenMod to actually be an option out of the box for users, but the answer wasn’t a great one.

Here’s the thing about CyanogenMod: it’ll never exist as the default option on a phone you buy in a real store. It can’t, not legally anyway. Google has very specific rules about what needs to happen in order to approve Google Apps to be used officially, and a big part of that is a piece of hardware passing the Compatibility Test Suite. There is no mechanism for an OS passing this test without being an official piece of software for a phone. In order for CyanogenMod to be considered official and legitimate, the people responsible for software at the companies manufacturing hardware would need to see this OS as something more than a side project.

There will always be new ways our phones can be better, and I’d like to see the Lineage team introduce a few of them to us.

We all know what happened next. Steve Kondik and several others quit their day jobs, approached VCs, and secured funding to launch Cyanogen, Inc. This gave Kondik and others the ability to approach and be approached by manufacturers and offer an alternative to building a fork of Android in-house. For small hardware companies looking to make a dent in the budget hardware market, Cyanogen was very appealing. This third-party would handle maintenance, updates, and Google certification. Their small but aggressive community project user base had a history of being highly supportive, which even meant a wider group of US consumers that never would have given the phone a second look would buy immediately. Several phones running Cyanogen OS were available shortly after the company launched, and these small victories encouraged the company to grow aggressively.

It’s unfair to say that everything wrong about what happened next can be placed at the feet of Cyanogen Inc’s CEO, but Kirt McMaster is without a doubt the reason things went horribly wrong. Being overly bombastic to get a little attention from larger news organizations is not a new tactic by any stretch, but headlines about Cyanogen “putting a bullet in Google” with their fork of Android rapidly soured the community that helped create this company. From the perspective of users that had followed CyanogenMod for some time, McMaster was a loud-mouthed outsider with little substance. When it became clear in released emails his attitude was likely responsible for ruining early relationships with hardware partners, community opinion of the CEO worsened quickly.

Having been to the Cyanogen Inc. offices to learn about the new company myself, and been with Cyanogen staff at several events since, it’s clear McMaster was a divisive and controversial CEO. As far as I was concerned, the people building a CyanogenMod everyone could use were way more interesting. Fortunately, those people still exist and many are still passionate about that core thought about ownership. People should be able to do things with their hardware the manufacturer didn’t intend, and this is one of many community projects aimed at that thought.

What happens next

CyanogenMod as I’ve known it over the last seven years isn’t going anywhere. It’s getting a rebrand, some of the people I’ve come to call friend have moved on to other things, but the core idea still exists and Lineage OS is something I plan to pay very close attention to. Android has changed a lot. I’ve argued many times that it’s gotten good enough that community projects aren’t really producing things worth most people making the jump for anymore. Google is focused on making their services new and exciting through AI and more clearly defined hardware experiences.

But the mission for community projects is the same, and it’s something anyone of any skill level can participate in. Imagine a way your phone or the way you use your phone could be better, and talk with other people about how to make that happen. For me, back in the Nexus One days, that thing was a way to answer the phone with the trackball. That idea encouraged me to talk to people, learn how to make it work, and share that idea with the world. The most important thing I learned through that experience was how incredibly powerful a community software group can be if there’s a clear goal.

While it’s true there’s a lot less broken about Android nowadays, there will always be new ways our phones can be better and I’d like to see the Lineage team introduce a few of them to us.

‘Hidden Figures’ is the uplifting NASA story we need right now

Tales of the space race between the US and Russia inevitably focus on the white male scientists and astronauts who seemingly did the impossible. But it’s important to remember that those folks had plenty of support from people of all backgrounds. Hidden Figures, which hits theaters in a limited release on Christmas, is the rare opportunity to tell one such story: how three black women helped NASA launch the first American into orbit.

Based on the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures is particularly timely as NASA is coming off of successful missions like the New Horizons Pluto excursion. The agency has finally found a groove on social media and it’s also beginning to talk about exciting missions ahead, like bringing humans to Mars. And of course, Hidden Figures is also incredibly relevant as we approach the presidency of Donald Trump, a man who’s proven to be resolutely anti-science when it comes to things like climate change.

Set in the lead-up to the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission in 1962, the film focuses on Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson), a math genius who played a crucial role in calculating flight trajectories for NASA; Dorothy Vaughan (Viola Davis), who led black women at the West Area Computers division; and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), NASA’s first African-American female engineer. They’re also supported by a coterie of other black women who served as “human computers” — people making complex mathematical calculations before the advent of traditional computers. (Annie Easley, another human computer at NASA, also had a lasting impact on modern spaceflight.)

From the start, Hidden Figures doesn’t waste any time proving why we should care about these women. Katherine Johnson is portrayed as a child prodigy who makes her way through college by the age of 18 with degrees in Mathematics and French. In an early scene, as the three women are dealing with a broken down car by the side of the road, they catch the attention of a white male police officer who has no problem wielding his authority over them with disrespect. But after learning they work at NASA, he offers them an escort to their offices, which leads to a striking image of the women speeding after his police car to keep up. That’s not something you usually expect to see in a film set in the early 1960s.

NASA (and its previous incarnation, NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) counts itself as one of the pioneers for diverse employment during the civil rights era in the US, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any hurdles for black employees. The West Area Computers Division in Langley, Virginia, where the three subjects of Hidden Figures initially worked, was completely segregated by race. And, as you’d expect during that time, they also had to live with things like segregated bathrooms and dining areas.

Hidden Figures confronts those equality issues head on. Once Johnson moves away from the human computer pool and gets assigned to the Space Task Group, she’s forced to deal with a room full of mostly white men who offer her little respect. There’s a hush when she pours herself a cup of coffee for the first time, and eventually someone sets up a ratty secondary machine to serve as the “colored” coffee maker. When she needs to use the bathroom, she’s forced to run all the way across the NASA campus to use the colored facilities by the West Area group. And she works with a colleague, played by Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons, who pays her little respect. Naturally, Johnson’s boss, a fictional NASA manager portrayed by Kevin Costner, is clueless about all of the issues she’s facing.

Things aren’t much better for the other women, either. Dorothy Vaughan gets rebuked from her white supervisor (played by Kirsten Dunst) when she asks for official manager status, even though she’s doing the work of a manager. When Mary Jackson wants to be promoted to an engineer, she’s forced to petition the city to let her take night classes at a segregated high school.

These are all issues we’ve seen before, but as we move further away from the indignities of Jim Crow laws and the struggle for civil rights, its easy to underestimate their impact. It also isn’t difficult to trace a line between the problems presented in Hidden Figures and diversity issues we’re still dealing with today. For example, Dunst’s character seems to mean well as a supervisor. And yet, she still blocks any attempt at advancement. (I also found it interesting that she addresses Vaughan as “Dorothy,” while subordinate calls her much younger supervisor “Ms. Mitchell.”) It’s the sort of casual discrimination that people of color still have to deal with today.

At the Space Task Group, Katherine Johnson argued to attend high-level meetings about the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission — something no woman attended before — so that she could have the most current data for her orbital calculations. She plotted the trajectory for Alan Shepard, the first American to reach space, in 1959, though we don’t see that in the film. Instead, Hidden Figures focuses on her calculations for John Glenn’s mission aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft in 1962, which made him the first American to orbit the Earth. While NASA was moving away from human computers and towards IBM machines by then, Glenn famously asked for Johnson to double-check the machine’s figures before he took off.

Speaking of IBM, we also see how Dorothy Vaughan was wise enough to start learning FORTRAN as soon as NASA received the machines. She encouraged her group at the West Computing Area to learn programming skills as well, which made them invaluable as NASA started relying more on IBM’s equipment. Vaughan would eventually go on to become NASA’s first African-American manager, all the while helping other black women at the space agency.

Hidden Figures has some issues you’d find in many biopics. At times it’s a bit too sentimental, and it glosses over historical moments quickly. But it’s ultimately an important film, one that brings to light just how much NASA — and really, America as a whole — owes this group of black women. It’s a reminder that, even during a more tumultuous racial climate, we were able to overcome our differences to work towards a common (and seemingly) impossible goal. And as the world is getting increasingly more divisive, that’s worth remembering.

Report: Snap Inc. spent millions to get better at augmented reality

The creators of Snapchat are running toward an IPO at full speed, but it seems to have nabbed itself a neat holiday gift along the way. According to a report from The Calcalist (as interpreted by The Times of Israel), Snap Inc. recently acquired an Israeli augmented reality firm called Cimagine for somewhere between $30 million and $40 million. The team will supposedly stay put and become Snapchat’s latest R&D division, which no doubt made their holiday plans just a little more festive.

“Fine,” we can almost hear you muttering. “But why does this matter?” Well, we can hazard a few guesses, but everything boils down to one simple fact: this purchase could help Snap Inc. make some serious cash. If you haven’t heard of Cimagine before, it spent the last few years building some surprisingly neat augmented reality tech — specifically, software that lets brands and retailers show off their products in the virtual space in front of your smartphone’s camera. We’ve seen companies like Google do this with Tango, but that specific implementation requires extra cameras and sensors — Cimagine’s doesn’t. (That’s not exactly rare, by the way, but the lack of extra hardware makes the people who achieve solid performance through just software look really good.)

That said, do us a favor: Imagine a Snapchat filter that, in addition to giving you a goofy pair of glasses and a trimmer face, also plops a virtual Coke vending machine behind you. Snap Inc. also rolled out “world lenses” last month, which allows people to use their phones’ main/rear cameras to see objects — like stars, moons, and clouds that drool rainbows — hovering in front of them. Cimagine’s tech and team could help the company figure out how to turn these rudimentary effects into mini-experiences fit into AR environments with more sophistication. This time, imagine a filter where you tap on a stretch of empty space of wall and a Coca-Cola Santa Claus emerges from it waving a frosty bottle.

These are pretty ham-fisted examples, but Cimagine already has a working relationship on the books with those sugar-water slingers, and brands likes Taco Bell haven’t shied away from the from big price tags that come with of sponsored filters. No, seriously: sources told Business Insider earlier this year that the 24-hour filters can run between $100,000 and $750,000. The thing is, Snapchat has to work more closely with these brands, especially because a good sponsored filter takes a ton of work to achieve. With a new codebase to work with, 20 brainy new employees in Israel and more newcomers to follow, this buyout could see Snap Inc. ho-ho-hoing all the way to the bank.

New Android phone, tablet, watch or Chromebook under the tree? We’re here to help

If you’ve just received an Android gadget as a gift, we’ve got all the info you need to get started.

There’s nothing quite like unwrapping a new gadget — whether it’s that latest flagship phone you’ve been wishing for, a shiny new tablet, a stylish smartwatch or even a Chromebook. So if you’re one of the many new Android owners getting started with your new device today — welcome!

There world of Android is vast and varied. Lots of different types of device run Android, and each has its own quirks. Luckily this is Android Central, and we’re here to help you get the most out of your new phone, tablet, watch or laptop.

So here’s a quick guide to getting started with your shiny new gadget this holiday season — from the basics to more advanced Android mastery, we cover it all.

First stop — “How do I…”

Our homepage is a constant stream of information on every little Android thing we can find, but there’s a lot more to Android Central than just news. We’re all about taking each thing we get a hold of and exploring every facet of it, explaining how it all works and showing you how to get the most out of your experience with the hardware and apps we use every day. As a result, there’s a whole lot here for you to check out.

• Check out our Android devices gallery and find your new phone or tablet.

• Explore our Help and How-to section for detailed looks at getting the best photos, making sure your battery lasts as long as it should, and so much more.

• Read through our Reviews and check out our YouTube channel for more detailed thoughts and videos on just about everything.

• Got a Android phone or tablet? Check out our favorite apps of 2016 to find out what you should be installing on your new device.

• For Chromebooks, our Chromebook hub is a great place to start.

Next stop — The Android Central Forums

The Android Central forums are home to an incredible community of Android owners like you, supported by our fantastic ambassadors and moderators. Whether you’re looking for help and advice, or you just want to chat with people who own the same device as you, the forums are where you’ll want to go.

There are forums for just about every Android device, including the latest Samsung, LG and Google Pixel phones, Android Wear and Android Auto.

Find out what’s ‘the best’

If you’re still shopping for Android-related tech — or looking for top apps and accessories for your new device — you’ll want to check out our guide to the best of Android. And we’re constantly updating our Android smartphone buyers guide with recommendations from our team of Android experts!

Follow us on all of the things!

Android Central is more than just a website. We’ve got a weekly podcast covering the latest Android news, views and fun stuff. We’re on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram. And you can find us on Snapchat at android_central.

Finally, the best way to experience Android Central is through our Android app, which is free on Google Play.

And be sure to sign up for an account to commend on articles, chat on the forums and participate in contests.

Thanks for being part of team Android, and enjoy your new gadget!

From the Editor’s Desk: So ho ho ho long, 2016

It came to my attention late this week that I would be writing the final Editor’s Desk column of the year.

Come next Sunday we’ll be kicking off 2017. I’ll be on a plane headed toward Las Vegas to get a jump start on CES (which doesn’t officially start until January 4) and another year of covering Android, Google and everything even tangentially related. Alex had a nice Editor’s Desk column looking at the trends going forward in 2017, but today I’m still thinking retrospectively about the year that was.

Daniel, Jerry and I had a nice little end-of-year podcast this week in which we looked back at the biggest storylines of 2016, and obviously had plenty to talk about. The Galaxy Note 7 saga, Pokémon Go being a massive hit, the impending death of smartwatches, Google becoming a hardware company and many other storylines.

The Note 7 is no longer headline news, but people haven’t forgotten what happened.

I’m honestly still trying to wrap my head around the whole Note 7 situation, and though it’s nearly put to bed at this point we know it’ll all come back to the front of our minds when we start to near the Galaxy S8 launch. Samsung finally weathered the storm and is just about done getting every Note 7 back to Korea, but the questions about how it’s handling safety will (rightfully) be brought back up the next time Samsung tries to sell a flagship phone. And the “Note” brand has to be well and truly dead, right? I don’t see how it isn’t.

I have no doubt that Samsung will be able to “turn things around” so to speak — if not by Galaxy S7 standards then at least by general industry standards — and make the Galaxy S8 a hit.

This was easily the most exciting year in Google products.

As Samsung tries to work out that situation, Google is having a hardware renaissance of sorts. The most important part of this new hardware initiative — which of course kicked off with the “Made by Google” marketing — is that it’s a centralized effort that reaches into all other parts of Google’s business. This is no longer the Chromecast team or the Nexus team or the OnHub team … it’s “Google Hardware” and that spans across software platforms, strategies and business segments. It’s a massive undertaking, but this is how you have cohesive hardware that works together and makes sense to the end consumer.

This is easily the most exciting time in the short history of Google products, ranging from software to services and now its own hardware. Just think what the landscape will look like this time next year when the group has had even more time to tie things together.

A few more thoughts to close out the year:

• I’m still wearing my Gear S3 Frontier, but I have to say my actual usage of it is decreasing. I’m still checking notifications as they come in, and rejecting unwanted calls, but that’s about it. At least the watch faces are nice.
• My Pixel XL Places Live Case has started to settle down just a little. The button works sometimes, and doesn’t activate accidentally anymore. Still mostly a crapshoot, though.
• And yes that means I’m using the Pixel XL still. For as much as I love the Pixel’s smaller size, the XL’s extra battery is a huge deal.
• I now have a new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (terrible name), and am therefore completely living the #donglelife.
• So far dealing with these adapters is entirely worth it for the plain fact that USB-C is amazing. Using one charger and cable for multiple devices is great for travel.
• You may have seen that I’ve tried out some of my new dongles on the PIxel C — and hey, they work well!

Happy holidays to everyone, and hope this long weekend is an opportunity for you to relax and spend some time with friends and family. See everyone next year.

-Andrew

HTC Vive: The Ultimate Guide

If you’re new to the HTC Vive or a VR veteran, this is your ultimate guide!

Earlier this year HTC debuted it’s first virtual reality headset, the HTC Vive. With the intention of providing high quality experiences to the masses, the headset has emerged as a consumer favorite as of late.

Whether you’re just starting out with the platform or been rocking a headset since launch, we’ve complied the best tips and tricks to take your experience that extra bit forward. From buyer’s guides, tutorials and troubleshooting, we’re sure to cover your needs!

Read more at VR Heads!

Google Chromecast tips: 17 ways to enhance your streaming experience

You’re probably reading this because you own a Chromecast but don’t know what to do with it beyond casting YouTube or Netflix videos from your device to a TV. Well, Pocket-lint is here to help.

You can use Chromecast to magically turn on your TV, play motion-controlled games, stream locally stored video to your TV, mirror websites, and more. If you’d like to learn more about these little-known features, keep on reading. We’ve detailed several tips that will immediately enhance your Chromecast streaming experience. Be sure to check out these reviews for more tips, too:

• Chromecast 2 review: Make any TV smart, effortlessly
• What is Google Cast for Audio?
• Chromecast now has a guest mode: Here’s how to turn on the feature
• What is Google Chromecast and why should you care?
• Roku Streaming Stick vs Google Chromecast
• Amazon Fire TV Stick vs Google Chromecast vs Roku Streaming Stick
• What is Google Chromecast and why should you care?
• Google Chromecast: How to set up Chromecast and get started with it

Turn on your TV and Chromecast without a remote

You can simultaneously turn on your TV and Chromecast and even change to the correct HDMI input without ever touching your TV remote. This is possible because Chromecast supports a common technology called HDMI-CEC. Although most HDTVs and modern sets offer HDMI-CEC, you might have to enable the feature under TV settings.

Once CEC is enabled on your TV, you will be able to cast anything from your computer and mobile device. Your TV will automatically turn on, then switch to the correct HDMI input for Chromecast, and begin streaming your content. Magic, right?

Stream local video using a keyboard shortcut

You could use apps like RealCloud Player, Plex, or Videostream to cast video saved on your computer to your TV. You can use a keyboard shortcut, too. First, download the Google Cast extension for the Chrome browser. Once it’s installed, open your Chrome browser and simply press Control+O (Chromebook and Windows) or Command+O (Mac). Use the pop-up box to find and select your video.

Keep in mind you can select files from your local drive, connected external drive, and even network locations. After picking your file, it should load in your browser. You’ll want to go to the Cast icon in the browser bar and select your Chromecast to instantly begin streaming.

Stream local video stored on Android devices

We’ve already discussed how you can stream local video stored on your computer, but this tip is slightly different: You can send photos, music, and videos stored on your mobile device to your TV. All you need to do is download an app on your Android smartphone or tablet that’ll let you do that. AllCast, for instance, but you’ll want to pay $4.99 for the premium version to remove all viewing limits.

You can also mirror your Android phone or tablet to the TV, meaning you can stream whatever is on your mobile screen to the big screen, such as apps or photos, by selecting Cast Screen from the navigation drawer in the Chromecast app. You’ll also need to select your Chromecast device. Nexus device owners will notice the feature under their Quick Settings menu.

Mirror your entire screen or tab

This one should be well-known among Chromecast users, but it is still worth mentioning to all the newbies reading: You can beam whatever your looking at in the Chrome browser to your TV. You must first download the Google Cast extension for the Chrome browser. Once it’s installed, open your Chrome browser and select the Cast icon in the browser bar. A small menu will appear, with a little arrow in the upper right-hand corner.

Click on the arrow to reveal options for casting your browser tab or your entire screen. The tab option will obviously only mirror what’s visible in your browser tab, while the entire screen option will mirror your entire computer screen. Once you’ve made your choice, click on your Chromecast device name to start mirroring. This is a really handy feature for presentations.

Cast full-screen content in the background

It is fun to cast from your computer. But you must keep video and different things in full screen mode within the Chrome browser at all times in order for it to display in full screen on your TV. That’s not so fun, because it makes playing with your computer while watching TV impossible.

Luckily, there is a workaround. When casting from your Chrome browser, press Alt+Tab to switch tasks. This will still stream your content in full screen…but in the background, enabling you to use your computer freely.

Adjust streaming quality

Did you know there’s a secret settings menu for Chromecast? You must first download the Google Cast extension for the Chrome browser. Once it’s installed, click on the Cast icon in your browser bar and select Options. A page will open with a few settings you can adjust such as tab casting quality. Simply select from Standard (480p), High (720p), or Extreme (720p high bitrate). Extreme is for people with newer computers and speedy Wi-Fi.

Similarly, you can also adjust the streaming quality for anything you want to cast. While casting, go to the Cast icon in your browser bar and select the gear icon in the bottom left-hand corner. You will again see options for Standard (480p), High (720p), or Extreme (720p high bitrate).

Add Emoji or symbols to your Chromecast name

This is a silly one that doesn’t necessarily enhance your streaming experience but it does make you feel cooler. You can use Emoji and character symbols to change your Chromecast name into something more imaginative. Go to your Chromecast options (using the Google Cast extension for Chrome browser), then click on your device name, and select Edit.

Under the Edit pop-up box, you will see a field for your device name. You can add Emoji (like these) by simply copying and pasting then from your browser and into the device name field. Alternatively, while using the Android or iOS Chromecast setup and configuration app, you can add Emoji to your Chromecast name using Emojis within your default keyboard.

Android and iOS support Emoji natively.

Play motion-controlled games

You can play motion-controlled games using your smartphone and Chromecast. Don’t expect to play Halo or something like that, because these are Chrome Experiments. Many games do support multi-player functionality however. One example title is Google’s Super Sync Sports.

Go to Super Sync Sports in your Chrome browser, then cast the page from your computer to your TV, and sync your Android device to your computer. From there, follow the game’s on-screen instructions. You’ll be able to wave, flick, and swing your smartphone to control the game, kind of like Wii.

Cast Facebook Live broadcasts

Facebook Live has added support for Google’s Cast tech. That means you can send a Facebook Live broadcasts to a TV. Just make sure your mobile device and the TV with Chromecast are on the same Wi-Fi network. Then, simply open a Facebook Live broadcast and hit the Cast icon that appears on the screen. It’s like casting any other content from your phone, such as a YouTube video, only it’s a Facebook live stream.

Cast Netflix shows using Google Now

This tip is a hack for people good with programming the app Tasker. More specifically, use Tasker to set-up voice actions for Google Now. Implement an action that allows Google Now to cast Netflix shows from your mobile device to your TV upon a voice command.

The variable will be whatever show you want to watch. Once done, you’ll be able to say, for instance, “Play Dr. Strangelove on the TV” to auto-launch the Netflix mobile app and cast your show.

Check out the video above for a demonstration.

Cast Netflix and YouTube using Google Home

Now you can ask Google Home to pause House of Cards on your TV.

Google Home could easily beat Amazon Echo – if it offered more integrations and skills. The addition of Netflix support is a major step in the right direction. Google’s voice-activated speaker now recognises when you ask it to play Netflix shows. With your voice, you can ask its assistant to skip episodes, pause and resume playback, switch on captions, and even rewind what you’re watching.

To get started, you’ll need the $129 Google Home and the latest version of the Google Home app. You’ll also need a Chromecast device plugged into your TV (the 4K-capable Chromecast Ultra version costs $69). You’ll then need a Netflix account to link to your Google Home. In the Home app, go to Devices > Home > Settings > More > Videos and Photos. From there, link your Netflix account to your Google account.

Keep in mind you can also do all this with YouTube videos. All you have to do is sign into your YouTube account through the Google Home app. Once you’re all set, you can start controlling Netflix or YouTube using your Google Home. You can say things like “OK Google, play House of Cards from Netflix on my TV” or “OK Google, pause Stranger Things on my TV” or “Play John Oliver videos from YouTube on my TV”.

Mirror VR using Google Daydream

It’s not really fun to watch someone experience virtual reality… After all, they’re in a closed environment of a headset.

But you can also see what the person wearing the goggles sees, if you use Google’s new Daydream View headset and a Chromecast, because you can mirror – or send – what’s on the headset to a television. The two devices just have to be on the same Wi-Fi network.

To get started, open the Google Home app on your mobile device, select Cast, and then choose the Chromecast device you want to display your VR images. When you’re done, put the phone into the headset, and then everyone can see what you see in the virtual world.

Get an Ethernet adapter

Chromecast requires a strong Wi-Fi connection, and so Google now has an $15 Ethernet adapter for Chromecast. It looks like the Chromecast power cord, but the plug end has a small Ethernet port to connect an Ethernet cable. Just make sure that the Ethernet cable is connected to your modem as well, and then plug the USB end of the adapter into the Chromecast, and attach the Chromecast to the HDMI port on your TV.

Switch up those Chromecast photos

You can now use your own photos – or you can choose from Google’s selection images – to switch up your Chromecast background. In the Google Home app, go to the Devices tab, then select the Chromecast you want to customize, and tap the hamburger menu in the corner. From there, select Backdrop Settings. You can pick a photo from Google Photos, Facebook albums, or Flickr, or opt to display news, satellite images, etc.

Enable a guest mode

You can let guests use Chromecast without giving them access to your Wi-Fi. Just turn your Chromecast to Guest Mode in the device settings, and anyone with the Cast Ready app can cast once the option shows up on their device (if they’re within 25 feet of the Chromecast).

Factory reset Chromecast

You may never need to use this tip, but it’s handy to know nonetheless: in case your Chromecast develops an issue where it doesn’t work or function properly, you can revert the device to factory settings.

Just access the Settings menu in the Chromecast app on your PC, Mac, or mobile device, and then select Restore Factory Settings. Simples. You can also restore the factory settings by holding down the Chromecast’s button for 25 seconds.

Join the Chromecast Preview Program

If you join the Chromecast Preview Program, you will get the latest Chromecast features before they’re released to the public. Google said the program is not a beta. It’s a preview of stable features. To sign up, open the Google Cast app on Android or iOS, then tap Devices, and select the one that you want to use for the program. From there, select Device Settings, then Preview Program.

Use the slider to select if you want to receive email notifications of updates as they are pushed to your Chromecast device. When you’re done, select Join Program and tap Okay.

And that’s it. Let us know in the comments if we missed any nifty tips.